Device for winding threads, particularly textile threads

ABSTRACT

A device for winding textile threads with constant tension on a vertically disposed winding body with a thread guide which moves in spaced relation from the winding body concentrically around the same in a horizontal circular path. The thread guide comprises a pierced magnetizable member or a pierced member of magnetic material and moves in a circular path formed in a stator ring carrying a stator winding supplied with electrical energy by an adjustable frequency changer which produces in the stator ring a rotary magnetic field acting upon the thread guide which upon an axially reciprocable movement of the stator ring moves the thread guide in addition to its rotary movement also back and forth in axial direction of the winding body so as to cause the thread to be wound in layers on said winding body.

[451 Jan. 15, 1974 1 DEVICE FOR WINDING THREADS,

PARTICULARLY TEXTILE THREADS [75] Inventor: Artur Muller, Karlsruhe, Germany [73] Assignee: Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe Aktiengesellsehaft, Karlsruhe, Germany [22] Filed: Dec. 14, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 97,789

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 544,551 6/1956 Italy 57/124 Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Attorney-Singer, Stern & Carlberg [57] ABSTRACT A device for winding textile threads with constant tension on a vertically disposed winding body with a thread guide which moves in spaced relation from the winding body concentrically around the same in a horizontal circular path, The thread guide comprises a pierced magnetizable member or a pierced member of magnetic material and moves in a circular path formed in a stator ring carrying a stator winding supplied with electrical energy by an adjustable frequency changer which produces in the stator ring a rotary magnetic field acting upon the thread guide which upon an axially reciprocable movement of the stator ring moves the thread guide in addition to its rotary movement also back and forth in axial direction of the winding body so as to cause the thread to be wound in layers on said winding body.

12 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJANI 5 I974 I SHEEI1BF3 FIG.1

- INVENTOR Aflw Miiller WJ M ATTOKA/EKS' PATENTEDJANISIHH sum 3 BF 3 FIG. 3

' l fNVENTOR /Ville? 1 ATT RA En 1 DEVICE FOR WINDING THREADS, PARTICULARLY TEXTILE THREADS The invention relates to a device for winding threads, particularly textile threads, in which the thread which is supplied to the winding device under constant tension is moved in a horizontal circular path by a thread guide and is wound on a vertically disposed winding body, while at the same time the thread is alternately lifted and lowered.

In the textile art the winding of threads takes place substantially in accordance with two known principles.

According to one winding principle, a cylindrical winding sleeve is driven with a desired rotary speed. The thread, which usually comes from above, is then wound upon the rotary sleeve. The thread which comes from the spinning means with a constant speed is guided in a straight line movement toward the winding body and with the assistance of a thread guide is moved in axial direction of the sleeve back and forth. With such a traversing movement a uniform winding of the thread on the cylindrical sleeve takes place. The rotary speed on the surface of the winding must however correspond to the speed of the thread. During the winding of spin stretch spools in one operation one tries to employ speeds in the range from 3,000 to 6,000 meters per minute. This requires at a predetermined diameter of the winding sleeve, for instance 100 mm, the use of starting speeds of approximately 10,000 to 20,000 revolutions per minute. It is possible to build structures performing such high rotary speeds.

'During the further processing of the wound material, for instance for texturizing, it is desired to employ spool dimensions which at the same winding weight have substantially smaller diameters. Such windings require sleeve diameters (cops) which are not larger than 50 mm similar to the ones customarily used in ring double frames.

Accordingly, the textile winding art requires the use of rotary speeds of the sleeve of at least 20,000 to 40,000 rpm in order to reach such thread speeds. For producing a good cylindrical form ofa winding it is also necessarythat the traversing speed be doubled. For a continued operation such high rotary speeds and traversing speeds are not technically obtainable; they would require considerable amount of expense and are seldom economical.

In accordance with the present invention, the assurance of a constant speed of the thread in the above mentioned winding principle the drive takes place either by means of a driving roller having a constant speed and acting as a friction drive, or whenthe winding is directly driven by adjusting the winding to a constant circumferential speed by means of adjusting members responsive to a constant thread tension.

According to the second principle which predominantly is employed for the purpose of twisting the thread, particularly in ring double frames and the socalled Flyer, the method for the production of cops consists in this, that the winding sleeve is driven with a constant speed and that the thread to be wound is guided by a runner (traveler) which is freely movable in a circular ring arranged concentrically to the winding sleeve.

In this last named principle, the thread when wound owing to the produced thread tension takes along the freely movable runner in the rotary direction of the cop, so that it moves outside of the winding. The lighter in weight the runner is the better will be its running characteristic along the ring and the faster the runner rotates the smaller is the differential speed between the driven winding and the runner. In this arrangement, however, the sliding resistance of the runners grows rapdily when the speed increases since the centrifugal forces of the runner produce an increased pressure against track surface of the stationary ring. The winding speed is, therefore, always smaller than the circumferential speed of the winding produced on the winding body. If, however, the runner would come to a stop then there would be no thread tension any more. This means the same as if the delivery speed of the thread is equal or higher than the winding speed which will certainly cause disturbances in the movement of the thread. Even though the rotary speed of the cop may be raised to approximately 20,000 rpm, the actual winding speed is still relatively low because the runner in this case has most often a very high rotary speed.

In the above described construction, a substantially relatively great winding speed is to be obtained with a substantially high twisting effect of the thread material.

' In this arrangement the annular body which guides the thread guide moves in axial direction of the driven winding body up and down in such a manner that the desired structure of the winding is produced on the winding body.

Of course, there are also structures known in which the annular body is stationary while the winding body is movable.

In view of the foregoing, an important object of the invention is a winding device for textile threads which is not only simple and inexpensive in construction, but also permits the employment of substantially higher winding speeds than heretofore.

This object is realized in that one employs an axially slidably mounted ring which concentrically surrounds the winding body, whereby this ring has mounted thereon a stack of annular stator laminations or plates and also a corresponding stator winding. The stack of annular stator laminations on the inner circumferential wall thereof which faces the winding body is provided with means for guiding the thread. This means under the influence of an electro-magnetic rotary field which is effective within the ring is set in. a rotary movement and in doing so winds the thread guided by it in layers upon the winding body.

According to an advantageous construction of the invention, the ring is made U-shaped in cross-section, where the two spaced parallel legs of the cross-section are directed inwardly and receive between them at least partially the annular stack of stator laminations. In accordance with the invention, the stator winding may consist of a plurality of individual windings distributed along the circumference of the annular stator.

It is another important object of the invention that the means for guiding the thread is made of magnetizable or magnetic material, respectively, and has a substantial spherical shape or cylindrical shape, respectively.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention the means for guiding the thread and consisting of magnetizable or magnetic material, respectively,

friction reducing members, such as balls, rollers, pins,

or the like, by a leg of the U-shaped ring which serves as a running track for the friction reducing members.

In accordance with a further modification of these two last named features, the means for guiding the thread and consisting of a magnetic material may be provided with a bore whose axis in the operative condition is arranged parallel with respect to the axis of the winding body and is used for the passage of the thread leading to the winding body.

In accordance with the invention, the winding body may alternately be arranged stationary or rotatably. In-

the last case, additional features of the invention are that the direction of rotation of the winding body may be opposite to the direction of rotation of the sphere or cylindrical shaped thread guide, that the winding body is driven by a conventional electric motor, and that between the winding body and the motor a conventional coupling may be arranged.

Of substantial importance is also the object of the invention that concerns the supply of electrical energy. In accordance with the present invention, the stator winding is supplied with electrical energy by an adjustable frequency changer.

The invention is not limited to the above-mentioned features of construction. The invention resides also in a method for winding a textile thread in that during the winding procedure an adjustment of the thread speed takes place in such a manner that the number of revolutions of the winding body is maintained constant, while the number of revolutions of the thread guide in the annular stator stack is decreased with increasing diameter of the windingon the winding body and this is preferably accomplished by reducing the frequency of the rotary field system, whereby between the magnetic rotary field speed and the actual mechanical rotary speed of the thread guide a slippage is present which additionally is increased by a reduction in the voltage of the rotary field.

The method in accordance with the invention is completed in that for the adjustment of the drive which produces a constant thread tension a conventional thread tension measuring device is employed which by a selective change of frequency and tension or both of these values effects a change in the speed of the thread guide The device and. the method of the invention have substantial advantages. Particularly when the winding diameters are small, the winding may be effected with a high thread speed without difficulties and in a very simple manner. The rotative speeds of the runner, as well as that of the winding itself amounts to only one half of the rotative speed of the winding body. If necessary, it is possible in this manner to double the winding speed by comparable winding or coil dimensions. Another substantial advantage resides in this, that the winding device in accordance with the invention permits the production of a small twist which serves as protection for the continued processing of the material and is very advantageous. In this manner the individual capillary structures of the material to be processed is held tightly together and therewith the assurance is given that during a further processing, for instance during unwinding, the capillary structure of one winding does not unite with the capillary structures of the adjacent other windings so that breaks in the thread are avoided. Of particular advantage is that in the device of the invention the driven thread guide has only a relatively'small rotary mass. This results in very favorable adjustment characteristics. A still further advantage of the invention resides also that in view of the rotation of the thread guide a far reaching frictionless run is obtained so that a winding operation is possible which requires only a very small thread tension.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of two embodiments when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates diagrammatically the construction of the winding device in which the most essential elements are illustrated by a vertical sectional view;

FIG. 2 illustrates diagrammatically a modified winding device likewise showing the most important elements by a vertical sectional view; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a horizontal sectional view of the winding device substantially along the line I-I of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electric motor 1 drives by means of a coupling 3 a vertically disposed shaft 2 on which a winding body 4, for instance a so-called cop, is mounted. An annular body 5 of substantially greater diameter than the body 4 is concentrically arranged with respect to the winding body 4. In fact, the exterior diameter of this annular body 5 is a multiple of the diameter of the winding body 4. The annular body 5 is arranged to be vertically slidable in both directions as indicated by the double arrow 5a. In cross-section this annular body has a substantial U-shaped form and has mounted therein a stack 6 of laminations consisting preferably of high alloyed sheet metal. This stack 6 forms an annular stator and has mounted therein a stator winding 8 which is separated from the stator laminations by insulation 7. The inner circumference 6a of the stator has formed therein an annular track 6b in the form of a concave groove. Into this annular track 6b extends the outer circumference of a thread guide 9 which has the shape of a sphere. However, the thread guide 9 may have any desired other shape,'for instance a shape such as is illustrated in FIG. 2 in which the thread guide is designated by 9b. The thread guide consists of an easily magnetizable or a magnetic material and is provided centrally or near its center with a piercing aperture 9a (FIG. 1), which in operative position of the thread guide 9 extends parallel to the axis of the winding body 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the modified thread guide 9b has the shape of a circular ring which as a runner is concentrically arranged with respect to the winding body and functions as a magnetic armature, whereby the rotation of the ring is established by a number of spheres 15 which determine the distance and the support of the thread guide with respect to the winding body.

The stator winding 8 is connected by conductors 10 (FIG. 1) with a generator 11 consisting, for instance of a static frequency changer provided with two potentiometers 11a and 11b. The roller of a conventional thread tension measuring device (not illustrated) is designated by 12 and 13 designates the thread and 14 indicates the thread winding formed on the winding body. I

The operation of the justdescribed winding device is substantially as follows.

The electric motor 1 which rotates the winding body 4 and at the same time the stator winding 8 is supplied by the frequency changer 11 with electric energy to build up an electromagnetic rotary field. The effect of the electromagnetic rotary field is that the thread guide 9, which is already mentioned consists of a magnetizable or a magnetic material, is rotated in its prescribed annular track 6b. The thread guide 9 rotates at least with approximately the same annular speed in its track as the rotary field produced by the three-phase current, for instance, it rotates 3,000 revolutions per minute when the three-phase current has 50 cycles and the stator winding has two poles or which rotates 24,000 revolutions per minute when the three-phase current has 400 periods and the stator winding has two poles. Owing to this additional drive of the thread guide 9 in opposite direction, however, with a speed of revolutions which coincides with the winding revolution, it is possible to double the revolution of the winding operation and therefore of the winding speed.

The thread 113 which is supplied by the thread tension measuring device and guided over the roller 12 and is pulled through the aperture 9a of the thread guide 9 before the winding device is set in operation, and it is attached in customary manner to the winding body 4. Under the action of the electromagnetic forces of the rotary field and under the action of the centrifugal forces which develop during the rotation of the thread guide 9 in its track, the thread is held in the prescribed circular path. When a circular ring is used as a thread guide then this ring serves as an amplifier of the mag netic field; the movement and the centering of the circular ring is assured by the employment of a few spheres 15 which are mounted in a cage llSa in similar manner as this is done in a conventional ball hearing so that a safe circular movement of the annular body 5' by means of the spheres l5 and the track 5a is assured.

The desired or the required winding speed of the thread l3 on the winding body 4 may be obtained by a suitable continuous adjustment of the potentiometer 11a which changes the frequency of the three-phase current.

When the diameter of the winding body d increases in size, it is possible to reduce the number of the revolutions of the winding body a or the number of revolutions of the thread guide 9. Basically both these types of revolution adjustment may be employed. Preferably, however, the number of revolutions of the thread guide 9 is adjusted because of the inertia mass of the thread guide 9 is relatively small, and this type of regulations becomes effective faster than the regulation of the winding body driving device as a greater inertia mass has to be handled.

The adjustment of the speed in relation to the diameter of the winding takes place preferably by adjusting the speed of the thread guide in that the potentiometer 11b is used to change the voltage of the three-phase current which produces the rotary field. it is wellknown that the magnetic induction changes in the second power. in addition, of course, it is also possible to change the frequency in the already described manner.

From the condition and the strength of the material of the thread 13 to be wound it is possible to determine emperically the maximum required thread tension which in turn requires a corresponding magnetic flux of the rotary field. This maximum required and always constant remaining thread tension may be adjusted during winding procedure in that with the growing diameter of the winding, additionally the frequency and the rotary speed is reduced. In practice, this adjustment is accomplished by employing the mentioned conventional thread tension measuring device which by means of a variable resistance or a variable voltage, respectively, adjusts the frequency of the static frequency changer so that the latter adjusts the rotative speed to the required thread tension.

By employing the basic principle of the present invention, the construction of the winding device may be very varied in the wide limits. For instance, it is impossible for the tension adjustment of the thread to employ semiconductor arrangements which operate practically without any delay. These semiconductor arrangements are particularly adjustable for thin threads which have to be wound with a relatively small tension.

For producing an electromagnetic rotary field it is not absolutely necessary to employ a threephase system as the source of current. It would also be possible to serially arrange energizable magnetic coils placed one after the other along the circumference of the ring 5 and employ a direct current and semiconductor rectifiers. Obviously, it is also possible to drive the thread guide 9 by pneumatic means in which the pressure regulations effect an adjustment of revolution of the thread guide.

What l claim is:

11. Device for winding threads, particularly textile threads provided with a thread guide, a vertically dis posed winding body and a horizontal circular thread guide guiding means in which the thread is fed with constant tension by said thread guide into said circular thread guiding means and is placed with traversing motion around said vertically disposed winding body, said winding body comprising an axially reciprocable circular ring arranged concentrically about said winding body, a stack of annular stator laminations attached to the inner wall of said circular ring, a stator winding carried by said stator, said circular thread guide guiding means being arranged on the wall of said annular stator facing said winding body, means for electrically energizing said stator winding so as to produce a rotary magnetic field within said stator and causing rotation of said thread guide, whereby said thread is wound layer after layer on said winding body while said ring is axially reciprocated.

2. Device according to claim 1, in which said circular ring is U-shaped in cross-section, with the legs thereof directed toward. said winding body, said stack of annular stator laminations extending at least partially into the annular groove formed by said U-shaped crosssection in said circular ring.

3. Device according to claim 1, in which said stator winding comprises a plurality of individual windings circumferentially distributed along the circumference of said annular stator.

Device according to claim 1, in which said means forming said thread guide comprises a sphere made of magnetizable material.

5. Device according to claim 1, in which said means forming said thread guide comprises a sphere made of magnetic material.

6. Device according to claim 1, in which said thread guide forming means comprises a member provided with a bore whose axis in the operative condition of the device extends parallel to the axis of said winding body, said thread being threaded through. said bore and then is conducted to and attached to said winding body.

11. Device according to claim 1, in which said electrically energizing means for furnishing said stator winding with electrical energy comprises an adjustable frequency changer.

12. Device according to claim 1, in which said thread guide comprises an axially symmetrical ring provided with a thread guiding aperture, and friction reducing members rotatably supporting said ring on a circular track formed on the inner wall of said circular ring. 

1. Device for winding threads, particularly textile threads provided with a thread guide, a vertically disposed winding body and a horizontal circular thread guide guiding means in which the thread is fed with constant tension by said thread guide into said circular thread guiding means and is placed with traversing motion around said vertically disposed winding body, said winding body comprising an axially reciprocable circular ring arranged concentrically about said winding body, a stack of annular stator laminations attached to the inner wall of said circular ring, a stator winding carried by said stator, said circular thread guide guiding means being arranged on the wall of said annular stator facing said winding body, means for electrically energizing said stator winding so as to produce a rotary magnetic field within said stator and causing rotation of said thread guide, whereby said thread is wound layer after layer on said winding body while said ring is axially reciprocated.
 2. Device according to claim 1, in which said circular ring is U-shaped in cross-section, with the legs thereof directed toward said winding body, said stack of annular stator laminations extending at least partially into the annular groove formed by said U-shaped cross-section in said circular ring.
 3. Device according to claim 1, in which said stator winding comprises a plurality of individual windings circumferentially distributed along the circumference of said annular stator.
 4. Device according to claim 1, in which said means forming said thread guide comprises a sphere made of magnetizable material.
 5. Device according to claim 1, in which said means forming said thread guide comprises a sphere made of magnetic material.
 6. Device according to claim 1, in which said thread guide forming means comprises a member provided with a bore whose axis in the operative condition of the device extends parallel to the axis of said winding body, said thread being threaded through said bore and then is conducted to and attached to said winding body.
 7. Device according to claim 1, in which said winding body is stationary.
 8. Device according to claim 1, in which said winding body is rotatably mounted.
 9. Device according to claim 1, in which said winding body is rotatable in a direction opposite to the one in which said thread guide is rotated.
 10. Device according to claim 1, including an electric motor for driving said winding body and a clutch arranged between said motor and said winding body.
 11. Device according to claim 1, in which said electrically energizing means for furnishing said stator winding with electrical energy comprises an adjustable frequency changer.
 12. Device according to claim 1, in which said thread guide comprises an axially symmetrical ring provided with a thread guiding aperture, and friction reducing members rotatably supporting said ring on a circular track formed on the inner wall of said circular ring. 